Downpour — Rain, flooding washes away Sugar Island roads

Tuesday

Sep 10, 2013 at 12:30 PM

By Scott Brand

While most Eastern Upper Peninsula residents escaped the overnight storm virtually unscathed or with mild inconvenience, the residents of Sugar Island will long remember the night as the one that washed their roads away.

An official press release from Director Tim McKee of the Chippewa County Office of Emergency Services tells the tale:

The impassable and closed roads from the official list released early this morning includes one of the main arteries — E. 1 1/2 Mile Road from S. Westshore to S. Brasser — along with N. Westshore from Seppie to Brasser; Hay Point from Town Hall East; Bailey’s from Three Mile East, E. Shore from Brasser and Three Mile between Townhall and Brasser.

“Residents are reminded not to drive through water as there may not be a road surface under the water,” wrote McKee.

And as the island began to dry early this morning, his assessment was clearly accurate.

Just below the Hilltop Bar the torrent of rushing waters swept away the road base, collapsing the paved surface — making it impassable to all but foot traffic.

The flash flood continued for hundreds of yards along the northern side of the road, undercutting much of the westbound lane well beyond the site of the collapse and leaving a lengthy stretch of sand and debris at the bottom of the hill.

Deputy Joe Wiater of the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office said in his eight years of road patrol this was the worst storm — for rainfall — he has ever visited, while returning on the Sugar Island Ferry from an accident involving a pick-up and another massive washout near the intersection of Townline and Hay Point roads. The driver of the truck was conveyed to War Memorial Hospital complaining of chest pain — possible from a rib injury — and a cut lip, while her young passenger did not suffer any injury.

“Just the amount of water that hit the island,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “If you had an inner tube you could have white-watered down.”

McKee’s press release shows that the City of Sault Ste. Marie set a new rainfall record for Sept. 9 with 2.56 inches at Sanderson Field, but the doppler radar rainfall estimate reveals more than 5 inches hit Sugar Island during the cloudburst.

Wiater also provided a visual of the scene when he arrived early this morning to see the raging waters streaming down the hill on E. 1 1/2 Mile Road.

McKee credited the Chippewa County Road Commission with a quick response as nearly every employee of that agency had been dispatched to the island early this morning. The price tag for repairs and the order in which they will be done was yet to be determined so soon after the storm.

“He’s got his boots on right now,” said McKee, explaining that the head of the road commission, Rob Laitinen, was still on the island surveying the aftermath of the historic storm.

McKee said he anticipated meetings throughout the day once the full scope of the damaged can be assessed.

“We are working with the road commission to expedite the process to make sure we have access for our citizens,” concluded McKee.